New Mexico Professional Athletes

Jason Sanders Is Still the Jets' Kicker — For Now

The New Mexico Lobo who matters most in the NFL this week isn't making headlines for all the right reasons. Jason Sanders, the Jets' veteran placekicker and former UNM standout, enters Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers as the team's starter — but the job security stops there.

Sanders was elevated from the practice squad to kick in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, a game the Jets won 23-10. His performance on the day was described as "up-and-down," enough to keep him employed but not enough to quiet the noise around a position that has become an organizational distraction. Despite the win, the Jets pointedly refused to commit to Sanders as their long-term answer at kicker — an unusual public posture that signals the front office is keeping its options open.

Sports Illustrated called the situation "a distraction" as New York prepared for its home opener against Green Bay, noting that while Sanders bounced back at key moments in Week 1, the team's reluctance to endorse him openly risks undermining his confidence and the unit's stability. A kicker who doesn't know if he has his coach's trust is a kicker who thinks too much between the hash marks.

Yahoo Sports confirmed the decision plainly: Sanders will kick against the Packers on Sunday. That's the good news. The framing around the announcement — coverage noting the "God help us all" energy from the Jets fanbase — tells you everything about how this chapter is being received in New York.

For Sanders, a Lobos product who has carved out a multi-year NFL career in one of the league's most unforgiving markets, the stakes in Week 2 are clear. A clean performance against Green Bay likely quiets the conversation. Another shaky outing could reopen it with urgency.

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Elsewhere among New Mexico's active NFL alumni, punter Corey Bojorquez was in uniform for the Browns in Cleveland's Week 1 loss to Jacksonville (10-34), though no individual punting stats were available in this period's data. Bojorquez has been one of the more consistent Lobos in the league over recent seasons and remains on the Browns' roster heading into Week 2.

The rest of the Lobo contingent — scattered across rosters from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Arizona — are all in the early weeks of the 2026 season, with Jacory Croskey-Merritt (Commanders), D'Arco Perkins-McAllister (Chiefs), Jerrick Reed II (Cardinals), Dylan Horton (Texans), and others working to carve out roles on their respective rosters. No notable individual game stats were recorded for those players during this period.

The spotlight, for now, belongs to Sanders. New Mexico doesn't produce a lot of NFL headliners, but when a Lobo is at the center of one of the week's more compelling roster storylines, it counts. Whether Sanders grabs this moment or lets it slip will define his 2026 season — and possibly his tenure in green and white.

Blake Grupe's path to an NFL starting role ran through waivers — and it just landed him in New York.

The New Mexico alum was claimed off waivers by the Jets from the Indianapolis Colts this week, vaulting him into the starting kicker role heading into the 2026 regular season. The move came directly on the heels of a rough final preseason outing from veteran Jason Sanders, who missed two kicks and prompted head coach Aaron Glenn to publicly signal that the position was up for review.

Glenn didn't wait long to act. The Jets released Sanders to make room for Grupe on the active roster — a swift, decisive shake-up at a position that can quietly sink a season if left unresolved.

Sanders isn't far away

The storyline didn't end with Grupe's arrival. Sanders, a longtime Jets fixture at kicker, was re-signed to the team's practice squad shortly after his release, keeping him in the organization as a safety net. The Jets' front office also continued exploring additional options at the position, per reports — suggesting confidence in Grupe is real, but not yet unconditional. Stanford's Joshua Karty was among the names surfacing in those conversations.

For now, though, it's Grupe's job to lose. The former Lobos standout has now earned an active roster spot heading into Week 1, a milestone that represents the highest-stakes moment of his NFL career.

The rest of New Mexico's NFL contingent

Grupe's breakthrough is the marquee storyline for Lobos alumni this week, but he's not alone in the league. Corey Bojorquez continues to handle punting duties for the Browns, while cornerback D'Angelo Ross is also on Cleveland's roster. Defensive end Dylan Horton is with the Texans, and safety Jerrick Reed II holds a spot with the Titans — a quietly solid NFL footprint for a program not traditionally known as a pipeline school.

For Grupe specifically, the waivers claim represents the kind of opportunity that rarely comes twice. Sanders' quick return to the practice squad ensures the Jets have a familiar fallback, but the pressure is squarely on the new man to make the job his own once the games count.